Of Languages and Dialects: The Unique Case of Arabic Diglossia

Date

Time

Location

Apr. 5

What constitutes a dialect? How does it differ from a natural language? Where does 'accent' dovetail in this nomenclature? There is a plethora of Arabic dialects, which are juxtaposed with largely one thriving Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The latter has steadfastly lingered on over the centuries while Latin, which was also used for liturgy with ample reverence, is extinct. This diglossic phenomenon of Arabic is the focus of this talk.

Ahmed Ferhadi is Professor of Middle East Studies and Director of the Arabic Program at NYU. He received his Ph.D in Linguistics as well as his M.A. in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language from the University of Michigan. He also holds an M. Sc. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, where he was a British Council Scholar.